Railway road-bed.



No. 793,163. PATENTBD JUNE 27, 1905.

J. L. SILSBBB.

RAILWAY ROAD BED.

APPLIUATION FILED APR. 29,1904.

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Patented June 2 7, 1905.

RAILWAY ROAD-BE D.

SPECIFICATION forming' part of Letters Patent No. 793,163, dated 511116,27, 1905.

Application tiled April 29, 1904. Serial No. 205.510.

Be it known that I, JOSEPH L. SILsnnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in RailwayRoad-Beds,of which the following' is a specification.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a simple, economical, and etlicient road-bed formed of concrete or similar material reinforced throughout the mass and external thereof, as will more fully hereinafter appear. Other and further objects of the invention will appear from an examination of the drawings and the following' description and claims.

The invention consists principally in a railway road bed formed of continuous strips of concrete or similar material tied or joined together transversely, reinforcing metallic members extending longitudinally through the mass, and railway-rails laid on top of the strips of concrete and secured to the internal metallic members, so as to form a truss in connection therewith.

The invention consists, further and finally, in the features, combinations, and details of construction hereinafter described and claimed.

ln the accompanying drawings, Figure I is a plan view of a portion of a railway-bed looking at it from above and with the rails removed; Fig. 2, a side sectional elevation of the same, showing the railway-rails in position, taken on line Q of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a transverse sectional view taken on line 3 of Fig. l looking' in the direction ofthe arrow; Fig. 4, an enlarged sectional detail of the rail and securing mechanism; Fig. 5, an enlarge-dsectional detail taken on line ,5 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 6 a sectional elevation taken on line 6 of Fig. 5.

ln the art to which this invention relates it is well known that it is very desirable in many instances to dispense with the usual railway ties and sleepers and to provide an economical and eflicient substitute therefor. To accomplish this object, this invention is principally designed.

In constructing a railway road-bed in accordance with these improvements l provide two continuous strips formedof concrete f/ u, joined together at a plurality of p'oints by transverse eonnecting-bonds l), also made from concrete or similar material and forming a frame-platform. These strips, with their transverse connecting-bonds, preferably provide central elongated openings` of any desired length, which when the road is in use may be Iilled with ordii'iary ballasting material. By this arrangement the ordiiiary sleepers or ties are dispensed with. Vlt is very desirable, however, to strengthen the mass of concrete which forms this frame-platform internally and extcriiallywin other words, to truss it, so as to assist in resisting the stress and strains incident to the use thereof. ln order so to do, the longitudinal strips of concrete are provided with longitudinally-extending metal rods or strips c, extending longitudinally through the mass from points near the lower surface of the concrete to points above the upper surface thereof, as shown particularlyv in Fig. (i. ',lhe railuuiy-rails are then provided and laid directly on the concrete or in some instances may be laid upon wooden blocks or strips w. The upper parts of these longitudinal metal members c are looped, as at f, and these loops are arranged in parallel lines and in staggered relation with each other, as shown particularly in Fig. Yl. Between these parallel lines of loops the rails are laid and upon the blocks, as above stated.

.lhe rails are fastened down in position by means of curved wedges the lower surface of which is provided with serrations or teeth t, adapted to engage witha serrated block fi, secured to the mass of concrete. When the rails are laid in position and secured to the loops, as above stated, they forni in connection with the embedded longitudinal metal members a truss, which assists the mass of concrete in resisting the stress and strains incident to the use of a railway road-bed, all of which will be understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art.

l claiml. In a railway road-bed of the class described, thc combination of a plurality of con- IOO tinuous strips of concrete or similar material, metal ymembers extending longitudinally through the mass,v railway-rails laid longitudinally upon the upper surface of suoli concrete strips, and means securing the railwayrails to the metallic embedded strips so as to form a truss in connection therewith, substantially as described.

2. In a railway road-bed ot' the class described, the combination of a plurality of continuous strips of concrete or similar material, metal members extending longitudinally through the mass, railway-rails laid longitudinally upon the upper surface of such concrete strips, and U-shaped members for securing the railway rails to the embedded strips, substantially as described.

3. In a railway road-bed of the class described, thefcombination of a pair ot' strips of concrete or similar material longitudinally arranged and bonded together transverselyv at a plurality of points, metallic members longitudinally arranged in the mass of said cement and haVingU-shaped portions extending up through the upper surface thereof,

railway-rails laid upon the upper surface of such strips of cement, and wedge.- members for securing the base-anges of the railwayrails to the U-shaped projecting portions, the whole forminga truss structure, substantially as described.

4.. In a railway road-bed of the class described, tlie combination ofa pair of strips of concrete or similar material longitudinally arranged and= bonded together at a plurality of transverse points, a pair of parallel-arranged metal members embedded in each of. the longitudinal concrete strips and provided with U-shaped;` upwardly-extending portions arrangedl in staggered relation, railway-rails laid between the parallel-arranged' metallic members and on the-upper portionof tbeconcrete strips, and wedge members-for securing the railway-rails to the Ushaped projectingportions,.. the whole forming a tnussedstnuc.- ture, substantially as described.A

' JOSEPH L. SLLSBEE. A litnesses:

THOMAS F. SHERIDAN, ANNIE C. CoUR'rENAY. 

